1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a chart sequencing device and, more particularly, to a device for sequentially exhibiting the individual charts in a stack of charts.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the fields of advertising, lecturing, presentations, and the like, it is known to sequentially exhibit a series of messages in printed form. For example, in the giving of a lecture, it is known to display a sequence of charts on consecutive sheets of paper, which sheets are typically supported along the top edges thereof, with individual charts being flipped over as they are no longer needed. It is also known to use slide projectors to display information. In advertising, it is known to provide advertising information on card stock and to periodically change the message. Similar circumstances exist when presenting various types of information for display purposes, such as when displaying art objects, photographs, and the like.
In those circumstances where it is desired to sequentially display information of this type, it has been found desirable to provide means for automatically sequencing cards, charts, photographs, and the like. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 452,859 discloses a photographic stand in which the photographs are made to change their places, one after the other, by means of a slide mechanism. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,577,596, 3,110,976, 3,513,576 and 3,570,155 all disclose advertising machines in which a series of cards or the like are successively exhibited for a brief period.
While the convenience of providing a machine in which a series of cards or the like may be successively exhibited has been known, the devices developed to achieve such purpose have been generally unsatisfactory for a variety of reasons. In most cases, the devices have been overly complex and inconvenient to use. Furthermore, prior devices are generally inoperative if anything else than card stock is employed. This latter disadvantage has made conventional devices inoperative if paper charts are used, as in flip charts, which is generally the medium of choice in lecture situations. Prior devices have also been expensive and clumsy to transport and use. Slide projectors are undesirable because they require a lecture to be given in a darkened room.